Elisabeth Cudney Keen

Elisabeth Cudney Keen, AKA Jill Schwartz, age 63, passed away under a firework-lit sky on the 4th of July. Elisabeth started her journey in Illinois in 1952 and spent much of her childhood in Afghanistan with her father James, mother, Margaret, and siblings, Jimmy, David, and Cathy. Ultimately she made her life in Albuquerque because the landscape was reminiscent of her childhood in the Afghan mountains. Elisabeth met and married Robert Keen in 1980, and they had two children, Maggie and Laura. During her life Elisabeth proved herself to be quietly charitable, doggedly political, endlessly loving, and always inclined to put the needs of others before her own. Elisabeth was a dedicated critical care nurse at UNM for many years and a member of Christ Lutheran Church. She competed in national powerlifting competitions, ran for political office, practiced Ashtanga yoga in voluminous sweatpants, provided a better life to dozens of animals, rode the streets atop her Yamaha motorcycle, enhanced her mind by reading thousands of novels, assembled an enviable collection of Christmas ornaments and wrapping paper, and enriched the lives of all she knew. A celebration of her life will take place at some point in the future. In lieu of flowers please embody her generosity and caring for others. FRENCH - Wyoming 7121 Wyoming Blvd. NE (505) 823-9400